Another respectable week for my predictions although I believe that I can do better this week.
Last week’s record = 10-4
Overall Record = 29-15
Thanksgiving Day Games
GB Packers @ DET Lions
As I pointed out in the power rankings the Packers D seems to have gone back to their early season form after getting destroyed (literally!) by LaGarrette Blount. A victory over the Bucs was probably too close to comfort for a lot of cheese heads as the team carries on the pursuit of perfection, but as long as Aaron Rodgers and his receiving core continue to score TD’s from all over the place the Pack should be sitting pretty heading into the post season.
The Lions got back to winning ways against the Panthers even if they made it hard for themselves again, eventually winning the slugfest 49-35. The return of Kevin Smith and the ability to score with someone else other than Megatron means the Lions should be one of the more feared teams in the playoffs should they make it that far.
Don’t be surprised if the Lions manage to end the Packers unbeaten run.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Packers are in for a fight on thanksgiving, but they’ll still win by 9.
MIA Dolphins @ DAL Cowboys
If Miami keep on winning will Tony Sparano and Matt Moore keep their jobs? One of them should, the other should’ve gone a long time ago. The Matt Moore led Dolphins haven’t lost in November and whilst they don’t have the best of chances to make the playoffs, they may be able to knock other teams out of the post season even before it’s begun.
Dallas have also not lost in November (you watch this game end in a tie now) and now find themselves on top of the NFC East, a conference which nobody wants to win by the looks of things. Since the emergence of DeMarco Murray, the Cowboys have been one of top teams in the NFC and should to continue to dominate as we head towards the end of the season. All they need to do now is teach Rob Ryan to keep his mouth shut and people might start respecting them again.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: I’m 55-45% certain that the Cowboys will win due to the game being held on thanksgiving, so Dallas by 10.
SF 49ers @ BAL Ravens
A Bro vs. Bro fight! Thanksgiving must be quieter with the brothers Harbaugh take on each other for the first time.
The 49ers are continuing to improve as the season progresses, this time beating the Arizona Cardinals to extend their winning streak to eight. Boy doesn’t that loss to Dallas seem like a long
time ago? If results go their way this week, the 49ers can lock up the NFC West and be the first team into the playoffs.
Was it a touchdown or not? I’d say yes but fortunately for the Ravens the refs decided to overturn Jermaine Greshams TD handing the Ravens a 7 point victory. Hopefully for the Ravens D normality will be resumed with the return of Ray Lewis to inspire them to victory.
A matchup of two teams with average QBs, good running games and top 10 defences lead by a guy wearing number 52.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: One of the losing streaks is ending this week and it’s the 49ers one. Ravens to win by 4.
6PM GMT Games
MIN Vikings @ ATL Falcons
Things just get from bad to worse for the Minnesota Vikings now suffering from the injury to Adrian Peterson, at least they have Jared Allen’s pursuit for the sack record to look forward. With their season basically over it’s time for the Vikings to start concentrating on their moves in the off season to become competitive once again next year.
Atlanta have a real shot of the playoffs now but they may need to win out for this to become possible. A victory over the Titans was the boost this franchise needed after Mike Smith’s poor decision making against the Saints the week before, look for the Falcons O to rack up some points.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Falcons to win by 10.
CLE Browns @ CIN Bengals
Well the Browns won which was quite a shock to me, but they were playing the Jaguars. By the looks of things unless it’s something about Peyton Hillis going crazy and trying to ruin the Browns, the Browns have received minimal media interest this year. A boring year for a boring team, in just over a year the Cleveland fans have lost LeBron, an NBA season (virtually) and now all hope of competing in the AFC North.
Meanwhile for the Bengals they still have a chance to make the playoffs, even if Ron Winters did cost them the game (maybe you shouldn’t have all dived on him for the fumble). With the Ginger gunslinger still calling the shots the Bengals will look to return to winning ways this Sunday.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Bengals to win by a comfortable 8 points.
CAR Panthers @ IND Colts
A matchup with a very bad team against a really bad team, but one has a freak QB and a receiver who remembered how to dominate opposing defences. The other doesn’t.
The Panthers had a shot to beat the Lions until Cam remembered he was a rookie and threw four interceptions, oh well there’s always next year.
The Colts didn’t lose last week!! That’s because they were on a bye but don’t worry Colts fans you will go back to your normal program this weekend.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Cam Newton Panthers to win by 12.
HOU Texans @ JAC Jaguars
We get to see if the Schaub injury will prevent the Texans from making the playoffs, with Matt Leinart leading the offence it may be time for the Texans to just rely on their rushing game to win their games for the rest of the season. Fortunately possessing the number one D in the NFL and the return of Andre Johnson may carry the Texans over the finishing line.
The Jags lost to the Browns...the freaking Browns!! It’s not all bad news as the Jags kicker has now started a Twitter war with DeSean Jackson...kids these days.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Texans to win by 14.
BUF Bills @ NY Jets
A few weeks ago I praised Ryan Fitzpatrick and said he deserved his huge new contract; I take back everything I said. News that Fred Jackson has been carted off to IR all but confirms that the Bills won’t be returning to the playoffs this season. They now need to win just to prevent Miami from over taking them in the division.
Tim Tebow made the Jets D look very poor in the last five minutes and made Revis look like a coward when deciding to run through him instead of running out of bounds. The Jets have had a long time to prepare for this game and should come out ready to return to normal ways. If they want to win a Superbowl, as promised by the other loudmouth Ryan in the league, they need to replace the Sanchize sometime soon.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Jets to win by 3.
ARI Cardinals @ STL Rams
Arizona shouldn’t feel disheartened in their loss to the 49ers, no one predicted them to win anyway. The Cardinals may be slowly turning into the Redskins of the NFC West with two QBs who show potential, win a game or two then eventually end up sucking. If it wasn’t for Larry Fitzgerald being on the Cards I think their offence would struggle a lot more than what we are seeing.
The favourites to win the NFC West somehow managed to go in the opposite direction this season, granted they did have a very hard schedule to begin with. The team already looks defeated and now seems to not be competing as hard in games anymore. The sophomore slump endured by Sam Bradford hasn’t helped in the slightest.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Cards to pull out the victory and win by 6.
TB Buccaneers @ TEN Titans
In what can only be described as a miserable season for Tampa at least we will have the memory of Blounts run. After so much potential heading into the preseason, the Bucs haven’t been able to live
up to the standard set up by the media and experts from around the league which is a shame for this young team.
I don’t know what to expect with the Titans, one week they win another they lose yet somehow they still have a chance of winning the AFC South confirming it’s a poor division this year. With Jake Locker possibly starting at QB we will get a look at the future of the Titans franchise (maybe they should start Ringer of Chris Johnson as well).
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Tampa to win by 6.
9PM GMT Games
CHI Bears @ OAK Raiders
Will the injury to Cutler be a big loss for the Bears as they head towards the playoffs tied in a battle with the Lions, Giants and Falcons for a playoff spot? Not really, they still have a solid rushing game, sturdy defence and a special teams game that’s from another planet. In other words Caleb Hanie has the supporting cast to carry him and the team to victories.
I predicted the Raiders to lose last week and I believe they would’ve had Adrian Peterson not gotten injured, fortunately for them he did and they were able to drain the clock with the power running of Michael Bush. Once Darren McFadden returns to the fold, the Raiders should continue to lead the underperforming AFC West.
Quick side note...Fair play to Chaz Schilens for finally putting Warren Sapp in his place, all we need now is someone to tell Jamie Dukes that he’s an awful analyst. Another day, another twitter war...
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Matt Forte to lead the Bears (and my ff team (ED. You hope)) to a well earned victory, Bears to win by 7.
WAS Redskins @ SEA Seahawks
The Redskins had a chance to finally claim their first win in six games against Dallas at the weekend; unfortunately they somehow managed to lose again and made Romo look like a clutch QB in the process. Now on a six game slide the Redskins may as well keep losing, trade a couple of picks with the Colts and draft Andrew Luck or sit and hope another QB falls to them, until they get a decent QB the Redskins will keep on sucking. Sorry Redskins fans.
The Seahawks on a two game win streak?!? Well I am surprised to say the least, I thought they were going to get over run by the Rams but this was not the case as the ‘Hawks won by 17 away from home. After his one pass for a 55 yard completion maybe Seattle should consider playing Sidney Rice at quarterback, he can’t be worse than the guys they currently have playing there.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Seahawks to win by 5.
NE Patriots @ PHI Eagles
Gronkin ‘ell! That’s all I can say after his performance against the Chiefs on MNF. This kid is continuing to prove that he is without doubt the best complete tight end in the NFL (deal with it
Witten). With a dominating performance from the offence in the second half, the Pats were comfortable winners to claim the number 1 seed in the AFC. The biggest thing to come out of their last game though was the defences dominating performance. Yes they may have been facing the Chiefs and their backup QB but this is a pass defence that most Britball players run against! Multiple turnovers and holding the Chiefs to 3 points showed good signs for a D which has lost numerous players to injuries recently.
Do the Eagles only decide to play at a decent level against divisional opponents? Now I won’t say they were amazing against the Giants, but out of the two teams they did deserve to win a poor game. VY looked like a solid backup for Mike Vick as he led the Eagles on a game winning drive, finishing with a TD to Riley Cooper. If Vick can’t make it back for the game Eagles fans should be confident that Young can lead the team again.
In a matchup of explosive offences against very poor defences, expect a wild affair.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Eagles get Gronked! Patriots to win by 10.
DEN Broncos @ SD Chargers
Quick tip, only watch this game when there’s five minutes left in the game, that’s when Tim Tebow decides to turn up and play. Another victory over a poor offence brings the Broncos back to .500 and now with a real shot of winning the AFC West, though this week’s test will be against a top 10 offence meaning that once again it will be down to the Broncos defence to hold the Chargers to minimal points as this offence won’t win in a shootout.
The Chargers tail spin continues now losing five straight after starting 4-1 (their last victory came over Denver). This game is a must win for the Chargers if they want to return to the playoffs, a loss will drop them down to 4-7 and more importantly will drop their division record to 2-3 which could prove costly if they finish with the same record as a divisional opponent.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: I’m sticking with the Tim Tebow project/Denver defence dominating but getting no love momentum and saying the Broncos to win by 3.
1.20AM GMT Game
PIT Steelers @ KC Chiefs
Pittsburgh sure are in a battle for the AFC North and the poor divisional record is slowly coming back to haunt them. Coming off a bye week the Steelers will hope to continue winning to keep pace with the Ravens whilst keeping the Bengals at bay. A loss this late into the season could cost any team in the AFC North a shot at the Lombardi trophy.
Kansas are down to a backup QB, backup RB’s and now have minimal hope for retaining their divisional crown. After Monday Night’s 31-3 blowout against the Pats, the Chiefs find themselves firmly rooted to the bottom of their division. With another primetime national game the Chiefs will need to find a way to end the winless streak and start competing with other playoff contenders from the AFC if they wish to save their season.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Steelers to win by a landslide or more specifically 17 points.
Monday Night Football
NO Saints @ NY Giants
The third best team in our power rankings return to football this weekend after their bye week and what a team to face off against. The Saints will need to continue in their dominant form if they want to keep a firm grip on the NFC South lead with the Falcons always creeping up from behind (no homo). Even though they are used to playing in a dome, don’t expect the Saints offence to skip a beat as they head to the MetLife stadium.
After so much promise it seems that the Giants season may be coming to an abrupt halt. Currently facing their fourth straight premier team in the NFL, the Giants see themselves in the midst of a two game losing streak and don’t seem to have any answers on how to end it anytime soon. If the Giants want to return to winning ways Eli Manning and the Giants offence will need to get off to a quicker start than the one they got off to against the Eagles. I BELIEVE IN ELI!
Dbl Coverage Prediction: As much as I believe in Eli the Saints have Drew Brees slinging it about therefore the Saints to win by 7.
Last week’s record = 10-4
Overall Record = 29-15
Thanksgiving Day Games
GB Packers @ DET Lions
As I pointed out in the power rankings the Packers D seems to have gone back to their early season form after getting destroyed (literally!) by LaGarrette Blount. A victory over the Bucs was probably too close to comfort for a lot of cheese heads as the team carries on the pursuit of perfection, but as long as Aaron Rodgers and his receiving core continue to score TD’s from all over the place the Pack should be sitting pretty heading into the post season.
The Lions got back to winning ways against the Panthers even if they made it hard for themselves again, eventually winning the slugfest 49-35. The return of Kevin Smith and the ability to score with someone else other than Megatron means the Lions should be one of the more feared teams in the playoffs should they make it that far.
Don’t be surprised if the Lions manage to end the Packers unbeaten run.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Packers are in for a fight on thanksgiving, but they’ll still win by 9.
MIA Dolphins @ DAL Cowboys
If Miami keep on winning will Tony Sparano and Matt Moore keep their jobs? One of them should, the other should’ve gone a long time ago. The Matt Moore led Dolphins haven’t lost in November and whilst they don’t have the best of chances to make the playoffs, they may be able to knock other teams out of the post season even before it’s begun.
Dallas have also not lost in November (you watch this game end in a tie now) and now find themselves on top of the NFC East, a conference which nobody wants to win by the looks of things. Since the emergence of DeMarco Murray, the Cowboys have been one of top teams in the NFC and should to continue to dominate as we head towards the end of the season. All they need to do now is teach Rob Ryan to keep his mouth shut and people might start respecting them again.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: I’m 55-45% certain that the Cowboys will win due to the game being held on thanksgiving, so Dallas by 10.
SF 49ers @ BAL Ravens
A Bro vs. Bro fight! Thanksgiving must be quieter with the brothers Harbaugh take on each other for the first time.
The 49ers are continuing to improve as the season progresses, this time beating the Arizona Cardinals to extend their winning streak to eight. Boy doesn’t that loss to Dallas seem like a long
time ago? If results go their way this week, the 49ers can lock up the NFC West and be the first team into the playoffs.
Was it a touchdown or not? I’d say yes but fortunately for the Ravens the refs decided to overturn Jermaine Greshams TD handing the Ravens a 7 point victory. Hopefully for the Ravens D normality will be resumed with the return of Ray Lewis to inspire them to victory.
A matchup of two teams with average QBs, good running games and top 10 defences lead by a guy wearing number 52.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: One of the losing streaks is ending this week and it’s the 49ers one. Ravens to win by 4.
6PM GMT Games
MIN Vikings @ ATL Falcons
Things just get from bad to worse for the Minnesota Vikings now suffering from the injury to Adrian Peterson, at least they have Jared Allen’s pursuit for the sack record to look forward. With their season basically over it’s time for the Vikings to start concentrating on their moves in the off season to become competitive once again next year.
Atlanta have a real shot of the playoffs now but they may need to win out for this to become possible. A victory over the Titans was the boost this franchise needed after Mike Smith’s poor decision making against the Saints the week before, look for the Falcons O to rack up some points.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Falcons to win by 10.
CLE Browns @ CIN Bengals
Well the Browns won which was quite a shock to me, but they were playing the Jaguars. By the looks of things unless it’s something about Peyton Hillis going crazy and trying to ruin the Browns, the Browns have received minimal media interest this year. A boring year for a boring team, in just over a year the Cleveland fans have lost LeBron, an NBA season (virtually) and now all hope of competing in the AFC North.
Meanwhile for the Bengals they still have a chance to make the playoffs, even if Ron Winters did cost them the game (maybe you shouldn’t have all dived on him for the fumble). With the Ginger gunslinger still calling the shots the Bengals will look to return to winning ways this Sunday.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Bengals to win by a comfortable 8 points.
CAR Panthers @ IND Colts
A matchup with a very bad team against a really bad team, but one has a freak QB and a receiver who remembered how to dominate opposing defences. The other doesn’t.
The Panthers had a shot to beat the Lions until Cam remembered he was a rookie and threw four interceptions, oh well there’s always next year.
The Colts didn’t lose last week!! That’s because they were on a bye but don’t worry Colts fans you will go back to your normal program this weekend.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Cam Newton Panthers to win by 12.
HOU Texans @ JAC Jaguars
We get to see if the Schaub injury will prevent the Texans from making the playoffs, with Matt Leinart leading the offence it may be time for the Texans to just rely on their rushing game to win their games for the rest of the season. Fortunately possessing the number one D in the NFL and the return of Andre Johnson may carry the Texans over the finishing line.
The Jags lost to the Browns...the freaking Browns!! It’s not all bad news as the Jags kicker has now started a Twitter war with DeSean Jackson...kids these days.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Texans to win by 14.
BUF Bills @ NY Jets
A few weeks ago I praised Ryan Fitzpatrick and said he deserved his huge new contract; I take back everything I said. News that Fred Jackson has been carted off to IR all but confirms that the Bills won’t be returning to the playoffs this season. They now need to win just to prevent Miami from over taking them in the division.
Tim Tebow made the Jets D look very poor in the last five minutes and made Revis look like a coward when deciding to run through him instead of running out of bounds. The Jets have had a long time to prepare for this game and should come out ready to return to normal ways. If they want to win a Superbowl, as promised by the other loudmouth Ryan in the league, they need to replace the Sanchize sometime soon.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Jets to win by 3.
ARI Cardinals @ STL Rams
Arizona shouldn’t feel disheartened in their loss to the 49ers, no one predicted them to win anyway. The Cardinals may be slowly turning into the Redskins of the NFC West with two QBs who show potential, win a game or two then eventually end up sucking. If it wasn’t for Larry Fitzgerald being on the Cards I think their offence would struggle a lot more than what we are seeing.
The favourites to win the NFC West somehow managed to go in the opposite direction this season, granted they did have a very hard schedule to begin with. The team already looks defeated and now seems to not be competing as hard in games anymore. The sophomore slump endured by Sam Bradford hasn’t helped in the slightest.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Cards to pull out the victory and win by 6.
TB Buccaneers @ TEN Titans
In what can only be described as a miserable season for Tampa at least we will have the memory of Blounts run. After so much potential heading into the preseason, the Bucs haven’t been able to live
up to the standard set up by the media and experts from around the league which is a shame for this young team.
I don’t know what to expect with the Titans, one week they win another they lose yet somehow they still have a chance of winning the AFC South confirming it’s a poor division this year. With Jake Locker possibly starting at QB we will get a look at the future of the Titans franchise (maybe they should start Ringer of Chris Johnson as well).
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Tampa to win by 6.
9PM GMT Games
CHI Bears @ OAK Raiders
Will the injury to Cutler be a big loss for the Bears as they head towards the playoffs tied in a battle with the Lions, Giants and Falcons for a playoff spot? Not really, they still have a solid rushing game, sturdy defence and a special teams game that’s from another planet. In other words Caleb Hanie has the supporting cast to carry him and the team to victories.
I predicted the Raiders to lose last week and I believe they would’ve had Adrian Peterson not gotten injured, fortunately for them he did and they were able to drain the clock with the power running of Michael Bush. Once Darren McFadden returns to the fold, the Raiders should continue to lead the underperforming AFC West.
Quick side note...Fair play to Chaz Schilens for finally putting Warren Sapp in his place, all we need now is someone to tell Jamie Dukes that he’s an awful analyst. Another day, another twitter war...
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Matt Forte to lead the Bears (and my ff team (ED. You hope)) to a well earned victory, Bears to win by 7.
WAS Redskins @ SEA Seahawks
The Redskins had a chance to finally claim their first win in six games against Dallas at the weekend; unfortunately they somehow managed to lose again and made Romo look like a clutch QB in the process. Now on a six game slide the Redskins may as well keep losing, trade a couple of picks with the Colts and draft Andrew Luck or sit and hope another QB falls to them, until they get a decent QB the Redskins will keep on sucking. Sorry Redskins fans.
The Seahawks on a two game win streak?!? Well I am surprised to say the least, I thought they were going to get over run by the Rams but this was not the case as the ‘Hawks won by 17 away from home. After his one pass for a 55 yard completion maybe Seattle should consider playing Sidney Rice at quarterback, he can’t be worse than the guys they currently have playing there.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Seahawks to win by 5.
NE Patriots @ PHI Eagles
Gronkin ‘ell! That’s all I can say after his performance against the Chiefs on MNF. This kid is continuing to prove that he is without doubt the best complete tight end in the NFL (deal with it
Witten). With a dominating performance from the offence in the second half, the Pats were comfortable winners to claim the number 1 seed in the AFC. The biggest thing to come out of their last game though was the defences dominating performance. Yes they may have been facing the Chiefs and their backup QB but this is a pass defence that most Britball players run against! Multiple turnovers and holding the Chiefs to 3 points showed good signs for a D which has lost numerous players to injuries recently.
Do the Eagles only decide to play at a decent level against divisional opponents? Now I won’t say they were amazing against the Giants, but out of the two teams they did deserve to win a poor game. VY looked like a solid backup for Mike Vick as he led the Eagles on a game winning drive, finishing with a TD to Riley Cooper. If Vick can’t make it back for the game Eagles fans should be confident that Young can lead the team again.
In a matchup of explosive offences against very poor defences, expect a wild affair.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: The Eagles get Gronked! Patriots to win by 10.
DEN Broncos @ SD Chargers
Quick tip, only watch this game when there’s five minutes left in the game, that’s when Tim Tebow decides to turn up and play. Another victory over a poor offence brings the Broncos back to .500 and now with a real shot of winning the AFC West, though this week’s test will be against a top 10 offence meaning that once again it will be down to the Broncos defence to hold the Chargers to minimal points as this offence won’t win in a shootout.
The Chargers tail spin continues now losing five straight after starting 4-1 (their last victory came over Denver). This game is a must win for the Chargers if they want to return to the playoffs, a loss will drop them down to 4-7 and more importantly will drop their division record to 2-3 which could prove costly if they finish with the same record as a divisional opponent.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: I’m sticking with the Tim Tebow project/Denver defence dominating but getting no love momentum and saying the Broncos to win by 3.
1.20AM GMT Game
PIT Steelers @ KC Chiefs
Pittsburgh sure are in a battle for the AFC North and the poor divisional record is slowly coming back to haunt them. Coming off a bye week the Steelers will hope to continue winning to keep pace with the Ravens whilst keeping the Bengals at bay. A loss this late into the season could cost any team in the AFC North a shot at the Lombardi trophy.
Kansas are down to a backup QB, backup RB’s and now have minimal hope for retaining their divisional crown. After Monday Night’s 31-3 blowout against the Pats, the Chiefs find themselves firmly rooted to the bottom of their division. With another primetime national game the Chiefs will need to find a way to end the winless streak and start competing with other playoff contenders from the AFC if they wish to save their season.
Dbl Coverage Prediction: Steelers to win by a landslide or more specifically 17 points.
Monday Night Football
NO Saints @ NY Giants
The third best team in our power rankings return to football this weekend after their bye week and what a team to face off against. The Saints will need to continue in their dominant form if they want to keep a firm grip on the NFC South lead with the Falcons always creeping up from behind (no homo). Even though they are used to playing in a dome, don’t expect the Saints offence to skip a beat as they head to the MetLife stadium.
After so much promise it seems that the Giants season may be coming to an abrupt halt. Currently facing their fourth straight premier team in the NFL, the Giants see themselves in the midst of a two game losing streak and don’t seem to have any answers on how to end it anytime soon. If the Giants want to return to winning ways Eli Manning and the Giants offence will need to get off to a quicker start than the one they got off to against the Eagles. I BELIEVE IN ELI!
Dbl Coverage Prediction: As much as I believe in Eli the Saints have Drew Brees slinging it about therefore the Saints to win by 7.
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